


Kara Danvers and the Year of the Cat

by slytherclawkilljoy



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, Genderqueer Jimmy Olsen, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-10 16:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5592829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherclawkilljoy/pseuds/slytherclawkilljoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supercat Hogwarts AU</p><p>Hufflepuff third year Kara Danvers finally gets a shot at playing for her house Quidditch team, her older sister and Quidditch Captain is brilliant and busy and probably up to something, and a famously cold Slytherin girl named Cat shows a surprising interest in them both.</p><p>Kara meets Cat and is an actual human puppy.</p><p>There will be adventures.</p><p>Cat is a Slytherin, sorry if you headcanon as Ravenclaw but hopefully you'll enjoy this anyway!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Badger and the Snake

Her knees shook a little as she walked out over the slick grass, walking slightly closer to Jamie than was strictly necessary. She swallowed repeatedly in the vain hope that she might be able to drown out the din of the green and yellow ocean swirling high around her.

"You're going to be fine," Jamie bumped Kara with their shoulder gently, "great, even. I've seen you fly Kara, you have serious skills. You deserve this."

From the first flying lesson they took in their first year at Hogwarts it had been clear to everyone that Kara Danvers had some other level of natural talent in the air. She was fearless when it came to anything physical and the risks she allowed herself to take on her broom put her way out ahead of her peers - always willing to go just a little bit faster, or change direction that crucial beat later. Initially, people talked about how she'd be the next great Hufflepuff Seeker, people always seemed to say that about good fliers. But after one too many potions classes gone awry after she got distracted by conversation or daydreaming it became apparent that she needed a task that demanded her continued and shifting engagement to stay focused, and after the historical incident at Christmas dinner in her first year when she had pulled an enchanted bowling ball out of her cracker and used it to knock the star from the top of the Christmas tree from the other side of the Great Hall, winning the last helping of apple crumble from Jamie in the process, it was generally agreed that Kara would do much greater things as a Chaser.

However, one of the downsides of fierce Hufflepuff loyalty meant that it wasn't until now, in her third year, that Kara was finally getting a chance to play for her house. The Hufflepuff Chasers had been unchanged for three years, but two of the three had graduated with their NEWTs at the end of the last academic year leaving team captain Trish Walker with two spots open to new blood. It had been a no-brainer that Kara should try out, to everyone except Kara anyway. She knew she could fly well, she just didn't think she could fly best, and Jamie had initially only gone along so they could make sure she saw it through. As it turned out, Jamie was a decent flier and a brilliant team player, with a surprisingly accurate long shot, so they had been the clear choice for the second spot.

"Thanks Jamie," she smiled at her friend as they mounted their brooms in anticipation of the starting whistle, "I just really don't want to mess this up."

The shrill roll of Henshaw's whistle cut through the air around them. "We've got this!" Jamie yelled as they shot up into the air, Jamie making straight for the Quaffle, catching it comfortably and throwing it out to Trish on the left wing.

As soon as she got some momentum behind her, and the Slytherin goal-posts in her sights, much of Kara's trepidation fell away. The sight of her older sister focused and prowling in front her goals, shouting strategy to the defending Chasers in between her and the oncoming Hufflepuff attack was a familiar view, and one that wasted no time at all in provoking all of Kara's competitive instincts. Years of supporting Alex's Keeper training in the back garden pushed up to the forefront of Kara's mind and that, combined with the adrenaline pumping through her veins at the sheer velocity of her flight, did a thorough job of allaying all her reservations.

She went high and cut over the entire width of the pitch, receiving the Quaffle smoothly from Trish directly beneath her. She rolled back toward the middle of the pitch and tried to release the ball back to Jamie but a surgically precise Bludger hit from a Slytherin Beater knocked hard into her shoulder and the red ball dropped straight down, easily snatched up by a waiting green Chaser below. The mass of green in the crowd roared their approval as the Slytherin Chasers mounted their assault. Trish danced among them hoping to intercept a shoddy pass, but Jamie had spent a little too long making sure Kara was ok before pulling back into position to defend and the three Slytherin players easily evaded Trish's solo efforts. Another pass. A final dive. A feint to the left, leaving the Hufflepuff Keeper Luke pointing the wrong way with no time to adjust as the Slytherin Chaser slung the Quaffle deftly through the furthest hoop.

"AND THAT'S THE FIRST GOAL OF THE MATCH FOLKS, SLYTHERIN LEAD TEN NIL. THEY'LL BE THRILLED I'M SURE TO GET THOSE VITAL FIRST POINTS ON THE BOARD." Lois Lane's practised vocals rang out over the pitch, just audible over the raucous celebrations of the Slytherin congregation and the booing and heckling of a small group of Gryffindor 6th Years.

"It's fine, it's one goal," Trish soothed her new companions as they regrouped after the goal. "Let them get cocky, it'll be their downfall. I've trained with you guys for weeks now, I know we can do better. Take some deep breaths, settle into it, and be prepared to switch right back into a defensive formation when we lose possession - it's just like we've drilled." She smiled softly at her younger teammates and her words seemed to have their desired impact - a spectacular string of tricky passes led Hufflepuff to their first goal within a minute of the whistle. Some solid Beater work from both teams threatened to disrupt the flow of midfield gameplay but Kara, Jamie and Trish had really found their stride. They swooped, darted and dived. "A GOAL!". They loosed the Quaffle between themselves fluidly. "ANOTHER TEN POINTS FOR HUFFLEPUFF!" They were in their element, dominating the main game, and pulling out far into the lead. A couple of glitches in their defence kept Luke alert, but he made two brilliant saves in the next ten minutes, immediately redeeming himself in the hearts of the Hufflepuff fans after his earlier failing. They scored six more goals, and though Alex flew brilliantly, saving three times that many attempts with formidable skill, the Hufflepuffs were relentless and consistent and the Slytherin Chasers dropped their mental game, allowing their team to fall further and further behind.

"HUFFLEPUFF HAVE REALLY COME OUT STRONG TODAY, LEADING BY AN EIGHTY POINT MARGIN WITH NINETY TO SLYTHERIN'S TEN, PROVING QUITE STEADFASTLY THAT A NEW TEAM ISN'T ALWAYS A WORSE- WAIT, LOOK AT THAT! DUCASSE HAS SEEN SOMETHING!"

Out of the corner of Kara's eye she saw Malcolm bomb straight towards the ground by the Slytherin goal line, followed tightly by the emerald blur of his Slytherin counterpart and she couldn't help but turn to watch. His fingers brushed the fluttering golden ball before him. Almost there… "Come on Malcolm. Come on buddy," she muttered into the wind, willing him to close that final inch, and… THWACK!

Kara's vision spun blearily. Where was Malcolm? Did he get it? Her ears rang but not from any discernible noise of the crowd. A dull throb around her ear seared suddenly into a ripping pain through her skull as she registered the impact. She could hold focus no longer. The last thing she felt was the scratching of her broom's tail against her calf as she slipped from the sky and into blackness.

***

The soft pillows of the hospital wing bed tickled the ache at her temple as she slowly blinked her eyes open. A figure in green Quidditch robes leant against a cabinet in front of her.

"Alex?" her voice was groggy with unconsciousness.

"I'm here," her older sister gripped her hand from beside her bed. Kara rubbed her eyes and tried to focus, confused. Alex was next to her, but she'd seen the robes… She opened her eyes properly to see the slim profile of a blonde girl Kara didn't know. Alex read her sister's lack of recognition amid her disorientation. "This is Cat," she offered, "the one who hit you."

Kara tilted her head "She's a Beater?" She surveyed the girl in front of her, taking in the way her robes engulfed her tiny stature.

"I can hear you, you know," the girl shot haughtily from her perch.

"Yeah, she replaced Daniels this year," Alex narrowed her eyes down at her sister, "I wouldn't underestimate her just because she's small, Kara. Good beating is about physics, the transferral of energy, it's not all brute force."

"It was enough to take you out anyway," the blonde girl sneered.

"Are you here to gloat?" Kara was even more confused now, and a little hurt. Her tiny pout was rewarded with a huff from the Slytherin.

"I'm a good Beater, not a monster, Keira."

"It's Kara"

"Whatever."

"She's here to make sure you're ok," Alex cut in firmly, "it's very out of character, you've thawed the Ice Queen." She winked at her sister in the bed, "I'm going to get you some water. Be nice" she begged, and it was unclear at whom exactly the last part was directed.

Kara was still a little confused, but her sister's words softened her tone. "So you're here because you thought you might have hurt me?"

Cat shifted uncomfortably. "I'm protecting my interests." She fiddled with the cord on the bat in her hand and Kara could see she was putting up a front, though she didn't really know why. It confirmed she was here out of compassion though. She was worried about Kara, even if she wan't going to admit it. "Do you think Alex would keep me on the team if I had killed her precious baby sister?"

"Good point," Kara laughed, "she'd kill you right back."

"She'd try," Cat lulled, arching her spine slightly and rolling back her shoulder blades, and Kara remembered her sister's earlier words, getting the distinct impression that the tiny girl really was more lethal than she looked.

"Why am I killing you, Grant?" Alex asked mildly as she brought over the water and came back into earshot.

"For damages to the Danvers family," Kara piped up from the bed. "She broke our primary asset."

"Oh please, like you're the primary asset," Alex teased as she smoothed her younger sister's hair away from her face and inspected the growing bruise stretching from her temple and along her cheekbone tenderly. "Besides, you don't seem broken to me, just a little more colourful." Alex smiled gently over the bed at Cat. "Don't worry about it Grant. You did your job and you did it well. She needs to learn how to take a hit. Perhaps I should have charmed tennis balls to come after you in the garden sis, I've been coddling you all these years with an empty field." She gathered her broom and gloves up as she rose to leave. "I have a meeting with Goodley, I can't shift it, but I'll be back later ok?" She planted a small kiss atop Kara's messy curls and made her way towards the door. "Good game today out there," the corner of her mouth twitched up into a small smile and she caught Cat's gaze pointedly, "both of you."

A strange but not uneasy silence swelled in the room as Cat looked thoughtfully out of the narrow window and Kara wondered if Malcolm had secured the snitch in those moments as she fell. She studied the girl in front of her. She was tense, on edge, and incredibly pretty. Refined features and a wisdom settled in the contours of her face that belied her age. There was something sad there too that Kara couldn't really work out, in the way she held herself so tightly and couldn't admit openly that she had been concerned.

"She cares about you a lot," Cat cut through her reverie as she turned and fixed Kara with a look that was equal parts appraisal and well-humoured suspicion, "you must be pretty special, Danvers is quite famously 'made of steel'."

"Oh I am," Kara nodded impishly, her eyes narrowed by the breadth of her smile as she turned her head to the side and pointed at her cheek, "how many people do you know with a purple face?"

Cat sniggered and flushed a little, catching herself, and Kara could almost see the cogs whirring in the girl's head as an internal struggle ticked away behind her furrowed brow, as though she were trying to work out an arithmancy problem, or solve a riddle. After a beat her face softened and she returned the smile tentatively, meeting her eyes, and Kara was struck with the sudden conviction to illicit that smile as often as she could from the guarded girl in front of her.


	2. "...But satisfaction brought it back."

In the grip of the late November chill, Cat Grant pulled her thick grey scarf higher up to cover her jaw as she ducked her head into the wind and hurried down the frost-covered lawns in front of the castle, strictly maintaining a constant distance between herself and the tall figure making swiftly across the grounds ahead of her.

Alex Danvers was up to something.

The older girl had been acting suspiciously for almost two weeks now. Cat had seen her sweet-talk Professor Schott into an access note for the Restricted Section of the library, and the fool hadn’t even been paying enough attention to the note itself to see that the specific subject field in the form was empty for Alex to fill in later at will. She had been coming back to the dormitories later and later in the evenings, and she’d been receiving a number of owls carrying a variety of strange packages directly to the Slytherin common room in the middle of the night when she thought everyone was asleep. It wasn’t like Cat was spying on her or anything, but she had developed a habit of watching Alex Danvers closely. The girl was one of the few students in the Upper School that Cat considered on her level of intelligence and skill, she was highly competent and one of only a very small number of people Cat held to be a friend rather than a follower.

If she was capable of being a friend she was also capable of being a threat, and it was very important to Cat to keep an eye on potential threats.

Yes, she had been keeping an eye on Danvers ever since the time when Cat was in her second year that she had stepped in and defended her against a bullying sixth year that had targeted Cat relentlessly. Alex had come round the corner of the greenhouse at the sound of some particularly vicious and misogynistic insults and cast the most exquisite wrist binding and tongue-tying curses on the older boy. Various sources throughout the school confirmed that he hadn’t regained full control of his speech again for over a month, and the time he had to miss from Quidditch practice due to the way his hands kept involuntarily snapping back behind his back on the slightest trigger got him dropped permanently from the team. Serendipitously perhaps, the selection period immediately following this incident was also the first time in years that the Slytherin team had managed to recruit and draft a squad with a decent spectrum of gender diversity, and Alex had finally been given the Keeper role.

Cat had respected her, and so Cat had watched her. Cat noticed how she read muggle science text books in the common room, and how she gave out meticulously drawn maps of the castle’s trick steps and trap passageways to first years. She noticed the frequent clandestine meetings she had with a Ravenclaw sixth year whose name she didn’t know, and she noticed how she had breakfast every morning with that Labrador she called a sister over at the Hufflepuff table. She also noticed then, that when Kara was released from the Hospital Wing the day after the Slytherin – Hufflepuff match, Alex did not join her for their morning ritual.

Cat had emerged from the corridor that led down to the Slytherin common room shortly after Alex and she had expected to see her cross the entrance hall and head directly into the Great Hall for breakfast, instead she had hurried away through the main doors and out into the unforgiving Scottish winter. Instinctively, Cat had followed, and now here she was, chasing her down towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest at 8 o’clock on a dreary Wednesday morning, slipping in the muddy grass and ruining her trainers in the process.

As she reached the line of the trees, and saw the morning frost clinging to the bark sparkling lightly amid the darkness that stretched forward within, it occurred to her how irresponsible this was of Danvers. Going off alone into the treacherous woods in inclement weather, during Wednesday morning open study, when it could be hours before people noticed she was missing, and leaving a freshly back on her feet Kara to lick her wounds and eat her bacon alone, wondering where her darling sister could be. The thought of Kara’s hopeful little face sitting through the entire breakfast period waiting for Alex to show, while she was out here doing God knows what in the Forbidden Forest, bothered Cat in a way she did not expect and refused point blank to dissect right now. She sighed and brushed her gloved fingers over the icy coat of the tree trunk before her. She had no way of knowing where Alex had gone now, she was too far ahead, and no guarantee that it would be safe for her if she did finally catch up to wherever she was. The objectives of her morning mission shifted around in her brain and before she knew it she was turning away from the forest and trudging back up the slopes to the castle, another Danvers sister fixed firmly in her sights.

***

The sky in the Great Hall mirrored the indecisive grey of the thick snow clouds that threatened outside perfectly. She wished it would hurry up and drop that couple of degrees colder so that the grounds would freeze over and the snow would come. Crisp winter mornings with snow all around and clear skies the colour of jackdaw eggs were Cat’s favourite time of year, but she definitely did not appreciate the slushy November storms it took to get there. She brushed the mud off her trainers in the doorway, scanning the length of the Hufflepuff table in search of the familiar profile. 

She spotted Kara at the far end of the hall, hunched over the table with her golden hair trailing carelessly into a toast rack. Cat took in the sad little look on the Hufflepuff’s face, pushing eggs around her plate as she sat apart from the others at the long table, pointedly averting her gaze from a gratuitous public display of affection from Jamie Olsen and a girl Cat quickly recognised as the youngest Lane sister. She filed that information away carefully and made her way over.

“Keira,” she drawled as she clambered over the bench to sit next to Jamie, “How’s your head?”

“Cat! Hi!” Kara’s face brightened as she recognised the girl before her.

Cat channelled the impulse itching to lift the corners of her mouth into her eyebrows instead. “You’re very chirpy for someone recently discharged.”

“Well I had lots of lovely visitors who took great care of me,” her eyes shone, open and sincere, “and my head is fine, thank you. It’ll be bruised for a couple of days more but no lasting damage, so don’t worry, I’m not pressing charges.”

“A wise decision,” Cat countered as she poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice, “you’re not eating with that sister of yours this morning.” She tried to sound as uninterested as possible but the irritating little head tilt from across the table told her she hadn’t been quite as successful as she’d hoped.

“Aha! You’re still worried about me.” Her eyes squinted in contentment and mischief behind her glasses. “Ice Queen my ass, Grant. You’re just a puppy.”

Cat choked a little on her juice. “Really?” She shot back, laying on the condescension, “I’m the puppy?” She raised an eyebrow in a way she hoped was withering and flicked Kara’s hair away from the toast rack, helping herself to hash browns as she continued. “I wasn’t worried about you. I’m just wondering what your sister is up to. She’s been acting very strangely.”

Kara’s brow furrowed at this, “I know. She’s been really busy, some private project with Goodley, trips off site and everything. She won’t give me any details but she usually let’s me know if she’s going away. She didn’t say anything about missing breakfast…” Kara stood up suddenly and began to gather her things, “I think I’m going to send her an owl. Want to come sit in the courtyard with me while I write to her? Jess and Trish start their Fountain-Fu league this morning and I really want to watch Malcolm fight before Charms!”

“Fountain-Fu?” Cat drew out the words, rolling each syllable around her mouth in distaste before releasing it.

“Dumb name, I know,” Kara shrugged and smiled, “but the concept’s pretty cool. They’ve transfigured the fountain into a stadium-type thing, and the water is split into two halves that can’t blend. Competitors stand on the edge and make their water fight. There’s a bout every day this week before first period, I think it was mostly Jess’s idea but Trish did the spell work.”

“Well, that is absolutely ridiculous, and exactly the kind of thing I’d expect from Jessica Jones. No, I think I’ll stay here and read my Prophet.” Cat tried to ignore the flicker of disappointment in the taller girl’s eyes. “You go ahead though, wouldn’t want you to miss the werewolf doggy paddle his way to his first Fountain-Fu title.”

Kara seemed to hover for a moment, as if debating with herself whether or not to try and persuade the Slytherin to join her, eventually settling for picking up a pancake and a banana and leaving the hall without another word.

The Prophet was boring, as usual, some trite drivel about Harry Potter being dropped from the England Quidditch squad after a dispute with the manager, and a twee little piece about the latest craze in cauldron crafting, complete with a reminder from the Ministry of the danger of residual magic in up-cycled magical crafts. Cat scanned through the columns lazily and nibbled on a piece of toast, all the while turning Alex Danvers’ unusual behaviours over and over in her head and trying to work out a pattern or a clue that would help her understand what was going on. She was being given some sort of special tasks from the headmistress it seemed, and Cat wanted to know exactly what they were.

“Um, excuse me..?” A small boy in Slytherin robes cleared his throat nervously behind Jamie and Lucy, obviously uncomfortable about interrupting. “I have a package here for Kara Danvers, it’s from her sister.” He held out a box wrapped neatly in brown paper and tied with a golden ribbon.

Jamie looked across the table, and then around themself confused, apparently surprised to find that Kara was no longer with them, and even more confused when they noticed Cat sitting right beside them reading her newspaper. “I’m sorry kid, she must have left,” they continued to crane their neck to see if she was somewhere nearby, “I have no idea where she is…”

Cat closed her eyes and tossed the Prophet down on the table, standing to face the boy and holding out her hands. “I do. I’ll take it to her.”

***

Kara was exactly where she said she’d be, on a bench in the corner of the courtyard scratching out a letter in loopy handwriting. Her face lit up when she noticed Cat approaching and the older girl couldn’t help but return the smile at the sight of the dishevelled girl in front of her, with the breeze in her hair and ink smudged on her cheek. “You missed a delivery, “ Cat said, offering out the package, “It’s from Alex.”

The Hufflepuff jumped up and took it from her excitedly, wasting no time at all as she tore off the paper to reveal a red box and a neatly folded letter. She grinned widely, setting the box down carefully on the bench and opening the letter, fumbling a little. Cat picked up the box and watched Kara’s grin soften into a warm smile. It was subtle, only the slightest twitch at the corner of her mouth, but it still managed to reach her eyes. “It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow.” Kara explained. “She’s planned a big meal for the American students in the boathouse, mostly to make up to me for being away so much recently I think.” She looked up at Cat who was still looking at the box with an expression Kara couldn’t read.

“Settlers of Catan…” she murmured absently.

“It’s a muggle board game,” Kara supplied. “Alex introduced us to it, you know how obsessed she is with muggle studies, and it’s become a bit of a family tradition. None of the pieces move or anything, though Alex has been working on it. Her first experiments with the robber didn’t go so well. The little guy went missing for days, and was really living up to his role, though he couldn’t carry anything very big. He managed to systematically de-stuff every cushion in the Hufflepuff common room; God knows where he put all that wool… Alex eventually found him trying to steal the gemstones from the housepoint hourglasses, and reversed the animation. He had a tiny pick-axe and everything! I thought it was kinda cute…”

“I know what it is.” Cat’s hand brushed lightly over the lid of the box, her fingers tracing the letters as if they might fade away and she’d be asked to repaint them with perfect accuracy. “My father taught me how to play. Mother disapproved of course, she thought it primitive – a strategy game with no warfare – she said it was the toy-box manifestation of German post-war delusions of pacifism, and that if I really wanted to build an empire I should play Risk, or better still, play a game that would develop my suitability for leadership in a pure and measurable way, like chess or Scrabble.”

“How does being good at Scrabble make you a better-“ Kara’s train of thought came crashing to a halt as she processed the rest of what Cat had just said, “Wait, your parents… You’re muggleborn?”

Cat snapped round coolly to challenge the younger girl’s wide expression, suddenly swept up in a quiet rage, “Is that a problem, Danvers?” Kara’s face flushed pink and she dropped the Slytherin’s steely gaze, fiddling with her glasses as she fumbled over her response. “Because we can’t all have the pure Danvers pedigree,” Cat continued sharply over Kara’s failed attempts at forming a sentence. “Funny, that it’s the Hufflepuff sister who’s the blood purist while the Slytherin chairs her little Muggle Appreciation Society, though I suppose it’s not a great leap from loyalty to prejudice.”

“Hey, no!” Kara, pinker still, stepped forward. “It’s nothing like that,” she insisted, her fists balled tightly at her sides. “It’s just that Alex is always talking about how much of that crap so many Slytherins still believe. I’ve never heard of a muggleborn in Slytherin before, they’d be torn to pieces.” She exhaled deeply and lifted a hand to rest softly on Cat’s shoulder. “It must be so hard, and you’re so put together, it just caught me by surprise is all.”

Kara felt the tension release beneath her hand, “Yes, well, I don’t exactly shout about it, and of course there’s a lot of underlying prejudice all over the Wizarding world, as well as a fair amount of overt bigotry from a select few – but every Slytherin worth her salt knows how to tell which way the wind is blowing and set her sails accordingly. It hasn’t affected my popularity because I’m too good for anyone to let it.” Cat sighed and moved to sit down on the bench. “The little snakes know power when they see it, and Muggle or not Kara, darling, I am made of it. A petty inherited prejudice is usually not enough to keep a Greencloak from their own ambition.” She placed the game box down carefully beside her, not meeting Kara’s eye as she finished, “I’m sorry… I’m glad you’re not a blood-purist. Hufflepuffs aren’t known for being fickle, it wouldn’t have been quite so easy to talk you round.”

“Hey,” Kara sat beside her, and turned Cat’s face toward her gently, holding three fingers up in the air in a Brownie promise. “Cross my heart, no talking round necessary. I am not a blood-purist. Hell, I don’t even know my own blood status – how could I judge other people for theirs?”

Cat scoffed, “Please, the Danvers family is one of the most famous American wizarding pureblood lines. We had to study your great-great-great-grandmother in our intercontinental relations module in History of Magic last year.”

“Yes,” Kara tilted her head and gave Cat a shy smile, “but I’ve only been a Danvers since I was six.”

The surprise on Cat’s face was clear, “You mean you were adopted?”

“Yeah, there was an incident with some cauliflower.” Kara held Cat’s slightly bewildered gaze as she continued, “One of my foster mothers was trying to get me to eat it one day but I was refusing. She tried to physically pull open my jaw and force it down and before I knew it I was sitting on the roof in the rain with a football helmet on and the cage covering my mouth. They had to call the fire department.” Kara smiled as the tone of the memory shifted, “That’s when the council stepped in. Mr Danvers, my dad, worked with them and when they decided they needed to place me with a wizarding family he volunteered. Apparently that wasn’t the first time a squad of Obliviators had to be sent round to clear up after me.”

Cat tried to form a response but she didn’t know where to start. She felt a fondness swell in her chest, alien and shy, for this strange girl who was so open with the world and giddy at everything she found in it. As she opened her mouth to reply a gushing roar swept through the courtyard as a tornado of turquoise water shot high into the air, and Kara immediately shoved the game in her satchel and jumped up, craning her neck over the crowd to get a good view of Malcolm’s efforts.

“Ooh I think he’s winning!” Kara squealed, “Come on, let’s watch!” She held out her hand as she looked excitedly over to the fountain and for some reason that Cat couldn’t fully explain, or didn’t want to think about just yet, she took it.


	3. Thankful

Kara’s breath pooled in front of her face as she skirted around the edge of the lake in the crisp quiet of dusk, making for the glow of the boathouse on the far bank. Settlers of Catan tucked carefully under one arm, she held her wand out ahead of her in the other, illuminating the wayward roots that clawed out from the forest boundary and across the path. She stumbled in her hurry, her boots drumming out a satisfying rhythm as she crunched through the frozen leaves all around.  
  
Inside, Alex Danvers caught the flickering of a wandlight making its haphazard way along the treeline, and smiled fondly. She placed a last marshmallow atop the sweet potatoes in the dish on the counter in her makeshift kitchen, and moved to welcome her sister at the door.  
  
“You made it then.” Alex teased, spilling the lamplight out to the water’s edge.  
  
“Obviously,” Kara grinned, and then added a little more sheepishly, “I’m not too late am I?”  
  
“Of course not, but you’re lucky you’re the one with the insatiable appetite, this food looks seriously good.”  
  
Kara groaned deeply at the smell of roast turkey and cranberries that filled the air, and she hurried to kick off her boots and get to the table as quickly as possible.  
  
Lane-Danvers Thanksgiving Dinners had become somewhat of a tradition for the two pairs of sisters who made up the entirety of the American Hogwarts student population. Eliza Danvers had moved to the UK to work with the Ministry after the loss of her husband six years ago, and The Lanes’ parents had studied together at Hogwarts before moving to the States after the last Wizarding War. It was important to them that their girls got the same magical education that had played such a crucial role in their lives, and particularly now Ginny Goodley was at the helm there was no better place for Lois and Lucy as far as they were concerned.  
  
Usually it was simply a case of asking the house elves in the kitchens for some festive foods and huddling in the Hufflepuff common room eating together by the fire, but Alex had wanted to do something special tonight and it showed. The boathouse was completely transformed; ablaze with floating candles and a roaring log fire, and furnished with a great oak table and chairs, cushions for days, and the hugest sofa Kara had ever seen. Bunting made of strings of apples and tiny squashes hung from the rafters, and Alex had even enchanted the ceiling into an array of branches and brilliantly coloured leaves so that when you looked up it was as though you were standing in the forest at noon on one of those rare, sunny, autumn days.  
  
This year Jamie joined them too, as Kara’s best friend and Lucy’s other half it would have felt strange to all of them to celebrate this holiday without them. Hailing from Manchester, Jamie didn’t exactly have a lot of experience with Thanksgiving, but they didn’t seem fazed by it at all, eagerly grabbing a plate as Kara sat down. They all began to pile their plates high with turkey and potato gratin, brussels sprouts and green bean casserole, passing dishes back and forth as Alex poured butterbeer into their glasses.  
  
“So Kara,” Lucy’s voice came playfully over the table, drawing out the vowels, “You’ve been getting pretty cosy with the Grant girl.” She sipped her butterbeer and eyed her friend dangerously, “What’s going on there then?”  
  
“Oh, I wouldn’t say ‘cosy’…” Kara hid her sudden blush behind a turkey leg, hoping that filling her mouth would help her avoid this particular line of questioning.  
  
Lois looked between Kara and her younger sister in horror, “Grant, as in _Cat_ Grant?” she put her cutlery down firmly and laid her hands flat on the table, as though gearing up for a very serious conversation.  
  
Lucy rolled her eyes at her sister and shushed her before smiling back over at Kara, “I saw you holding hands yesterday morning by the fountain, during Malcolm’s fight.” She shook her head gently and reached for more potatoes, “I don’t know about anyone else but I’d call that cosy, Danvers.” Lois’s eyebrows shot up even higher behind her fringe.  
  
“We weren’t holding hands,” Kara hastened through a mouthful of candied yams, “I was just dragging her over for a better view.” She shrugged and couldn’t help but smile to herself at the memory of her morning with Cat and the way it had felt to have her hand in hers for that short time, even though they definitely weren’t _holding hands_ holding hands. Her mind drifted as she imagined what it would be like to walk through the grounds with Cat, hand in hand for real, with no other motive than simply to feel the comfort of one another’s presence.  
  
“You should be careful with her Kara.” Lois’s stern tone cut through her reverie. “She’s bad news - cruel and stuck up. Don’t let her take advantage of your kindness. She will chew you up and spit you out and it’ll be no more than a game to her.”  
  
Kara frowned, thinking of the serious and reticent girl who had sat by her bedside in the hospital wing and chewed hash browns across from her at breakfast when she realised she’d been alone. “I don’t think she’s like that at all.”  
  
Lucy put her hand over Kara’s on the table and leant forward conspiratorially, making no real effort to hide her stage whisper. “Don’t mind Lois, she’s been at war with Cat Grant ever since their first year. I don’t know what happened, but my money’s on an unrequited crush. The broody pen pal boyfriend is all an elaborate front…” Lois retorted with a well-aimed brussels sprout to Lucy’s chest and the siblings descended into light-hearted bickering as Alex gestured for Kara to come help her with the desserts, leaving Jamie to mediate the situation at the table.  
  
“I wouldn’t say she’s bad news, exactly, but I do think Lois is right to recommend you be cautious Kara.” Alex mused as they walked over to the counter, continuing quickly at the wounded look on her sister’s face, “I’m not saying anything bad, really, I like the girl. It’s just-“ She layered trifle ingredients expertly with her wand as she considered the rest of her words carefully. “She’s not simple, Kara, there’s a lot going on there.”  
  
Kara’s frown deepened as she gathered up marshmallows and chocolate and biscuits to take over to the fire, “She’s not a bad person, Alex, I know she’s not.”  
  
“Oh I believe that,” Alex smiled and laid her hand gently on Kara’s shoulder as they moved together to the hearth, “I’m just not sure she does.” They spread out all the sweet treats on the low table in front of the fire and called the others over to join them. “All I’m saying is be cautious; not everyone makes friends as easily as you do.”  
  
Kara mulled over her sister’s words as she set about stacking smores and toasting them over the flames, quickly distracting herself with streams of melted chocolate and gooey goodness. The smores were delicious and the trifle was divine, and they basked in the glow of the firelight and binged on sugar and butterbeer until their heads were dizzy and their stomachs sore in the best way. Jamie, Lucy, and Lois set up a game of Gobstones on the table and Alex and Kara sat back against the sofa to watch dazedly on.  
  
“Thank you, for all of this.” Kara gestured vaguely with her hands and rested her head on her sister’s firm shoulder as they sat side-by-side. “It’s amazing Alex, really, I’m so thankful to have you.”  
  
Alex sighed and ran her fingers through Kara’s hair, “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy and so absent lately.”  
  
Kara hummed softly where she lay, “You don’t need to be sorry. You’re busy because Goodley knows you’re the smartest witch of our age and she needs your brain for all her top-secret research.” She sat upright and put on her best impression of their mother, _“Never apologise for your genius Alex.”_  
  
Chuckling, Alex shoved her away, “Stop that right now. You’ll give me nightmares.”  
  
Kara beamed at her and leant back against the cushions once more. “It’s exciting, all these private lessons and secret missions; My Sister – The Spy.”  
  
“They’re not ‘missions’,” Alex laughed as she pulled her back into her side, “It’s research. Goodley’s wife has pioneered a whole new field of magical thought, investigating raw magical energy – where it all comes from, how any of this is possible. Luna thinks that it’s not people that are magical, but the planet, and that magical beings are simply those with the capacity to tap into that magic and use it. She has so many wild theories, but if even one of them is true it will revolutionise everything we think we know about ourselves and our world.”  
  
Kara loved when Alex got like this, white-hot and buzzing with the potential of something, and she grinned up at her sister, “Well look at you, changing the world, I knew you were destined for big things.”  
  
“It’s not changing the world, not really, it’s just understanding it better – explaining it.”  
  
“Whatever,” Kara leant forward to claim the leftover marshmallows, “anyway, I thought you weren’t supposed to talk about it.”  
  
“We’re not,” her eyes flashed with mischief as she grabbed the last biscuit out from under Kara’s hand. “So if the Ministry come asking questions, you didn’t hear a thing…”  


* * *

 

 

“You’re leaving.” Cat Grant’s voice rang through the dungeon, bouncing off the walls of the very empty common room. It was 2am and it wasn’t a question.  
  
Alex paused at the opening of the passageway that led out into the main castle and turned to face the pyjama-clad girl. She couldn’t tell if she’d been in the common room already or if she’d followed her out of the dorms  
  
“I’ve been doing research. There have been lots of trips. I’m always leaving nowadays.” Alex shifted the deceptively small rucksack she carried, trying to get it to sit more comfortably on her shoulder.  
  
“Research for Goodley?” Cat stepped fully out of the shadows of the passageway that led out under the lake to the Slytherin sleeping quarters.  
  
“Yes”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“I can’t say.”  
  
Cat sniffed and moved closer still, until she was standing right next the tall girl under the archway. “Tonight, it’s different.” She eyed the backpack and the fur-lined cloak Alex wore, “You’ve been preparing for this for a long time, haven’t you?”  
  
Alex met her eyes for the first time since the conversation began, “We’ve been working on this project for nearly a year now. It didn’t seem credible at first but-“ She shook her head, catching herself before she said anything too specific. “This research could be groundbreaking.”  
  
“It’s not a short trip.” Again, it wasn’t a question.  
  
“No.” Alex fiddled with the straps of her bag, dropping eye contact once more. “You don’t need to worry about Quidditch, Collins is a good Keeper and Captain, and I should be back before our next game anyway…”  
  
“I’m not worried about Quidditch.”  
  
She sighed and rubbed her hand over the back of her neck nervously and Cat could tell she’d guessed correctly, she hadn’t told Kara that she was leaving. “You’ll look out for her?”  
  
Cat frowned, surprised by the hint of real fear she caught in the older girl’s voice. “She can take care of herself.”  
  
“I know that, I just-“ Alex bit her lip and stood in silence for a moment, before locking her gaze firmly on Cat’s once again, serious and earnest, “Just promise me, ok?”  
  
There was more to this than simple sisterly concern, and while Cat didn’t understand exactly what was behind her Captain’s request she knew without pause that it was a promise she would make and keep gladly.  
  
“You have my word.”

 

* * *

 

  
_Below her the tips of frozen trees rise up toward the sky, the sunlight thin and watery like weak tea staining the wisps of cloud that trail lazily overhead, aimless and nomadic._  
  
_She shivers, toes curling into the snow over the cliff edge, the wind whipping icily around her bare calves. She tries to look around her but she is paralysed. She strains her eyes in search of something and her vision dapples into blue and yellow static. And then it’s creeping in, that familiar trickling: starting with a shock at the nape of her neck and clawing outwards down her spine and over her skull. Tracing nerve pathways on the surface of her skin, the cold calligraphy that tells her something is coming, something she can’t control. Unbridled, her magic rips through her body as it consumes her._  
  
_CRACK_  
  
_A clearing in the forest. The shrill juddering of a goshawk calling high above._  
  
_CRACK_  
  
_A raised wand reflected in glassy eyes._  
  
_CRACK_  
  
_Too close, caught on the wind behind her ear, a whisper._  
  
_“You have my word.”_  
  


Kara woke with a start and a last resounding crack that echoed behind the curtains of her four-poster. Her breath came erratically as she touched her thumbs to each of her fingers in turn, over and over, soothing herself with the rhythm of it and bringing herself out of the dream and back into the dormitory. Kicking away the blankets, heavy with her feverish sweats, she peeked out through the curtains to check the wards had held. Jamie snored lightly in the bed opposite, obviously undisturbed, and Kara smiled gently at the sight of her sleeping friend. She had always dreamt vividly, but it had been a long time since she had woken her roommate with one of her outbursts, warding the bed had been one of the first things Alex had helped her with when she started at Hogwarts.  
  
The room was strangely light even though the sun would not rise for at least another hour and Kara jumped up, thrilled, as she recognised the familiar quality of moonlight scattered back by miles of unbroken whiteness – the snow had finally come with the first morning of December. Kara moved over to the window to savour the view of the blanketed grounds in their untarnished glory, yet to be trodden and scooped and sullied by thousands of eager teenage hands and feet. She was so distracted by the wonder of the fresh snow that it wasn’t until she moved to kneel on the window seat to get a better view that she noticed the package among the cushions, wrapped in bright green paper, patterned all over with dancing silver reindeer.  
  
It was a little early for Christmas presents, Kara thought, but she tore into the gift eagerly anyway lifting out a beautiful shimmering cloak. It felt light in her hands, like it took no energy to lift it, but at the same time there was something substantial about it. There and not there, rippling through her fingers like mercury. She threw it around herself without hesitation and marvelled at the way her body temperature instantly settled at a perfectly comfortable level despite her bare feet and the chilly weather. She looked down at herself in wonder, grinning broadly as the glittering fabric drew itself snugly around her body and morphed itself into a deep red. Running her hands over the gift in awe she stopped suddenly at the crackle of parchment in a concealed chest pocket. Excited, she pulled out the letter and began to read:

  
  
_Kara,_  
  
_I promised you I’d let you know before I left if I had to disappear on you, and I know writing a letter is nowhere near as good as telling you in person but it’s all been a bit of a rush._  
  
_Luna thinks she’s found something in Sweden, and if she has it could be huge. I wish I could tell you more about it, I hate not being able to share this with you, and I know you’d be so interested in all of this, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy, at least until we know more about what’s going on._  
  
_Elena and I are leaving for Karesuando in the early hours, so by the time you read this we will have collected our supplies from Luna’s contact there and will be trudging out upriver in search of the disturbances._  
  
_It’s going to be so strange to be away from you, I’m not sure how I’ll handle being deprived of the pleasure of watching you stuff your face with pancakes and bacon every single morning. I still don’t know how you can stomach it. We’ll have to do some proper studies of your metabolism when I get back to school. I should only be gone a few weeks. I reckon I’ll be back by Hogmanay but It’s unlikely I’ll be around for Christmas, so you’re getting your gift now – I’ve been working on this a long time, so I hope you like it! It’s impossible for me to predict exactly how it will react to you, but it’s primary function is to be useful, so trust it and it will respond._

  
_Take care of yourself, Trigger. Keep doing your exercises and send me an owl if there’s an emergency, I won’t be able to take my mirror. Goodley said no contact but hell if I’m going to be holed up in the ice wastes of Swedish Lapland with no way of knowing if something happens to you, so you’ve got to promise me you’ll write if you have to._  
  
_Smash the Ravenclaws for me on the 15 th, and save me a cracker – I need a new hat!_  
  
_All my love,_  
  
_A_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise they are actually in the same place at the same time for most of the rest of the story - this chapter just didn't want to work out that way, please forgive me!


	4. Small Kindnesses

It was still early and the snow remained largely unbroken but for a few sets of footsteps here and there. A couple meandered out around the greenhouses or down to the lake, but most led out ahead of her towards where the silhouette of the Quidditch pitch rose proudly against the slowly lightening sky.  
  
She should probably have waited for Jamie, but they were always late to rise and she couldn’t resist getting out into the snow while it was still fresh, so she had gone on ahead. The match against Ravenclaw was two weeks away and Trish had scheduled lots of early morning training sessions to prepare them for the colder temperatures that were predicted over the coming month.  
  
“The game doesn’t start ‘til two, so there’s a good chance it’ll be getting dark before we finish. We have to be prepared for reduced visibility, and frozen faces.” Kara knew Trish was right, of course, but it didn’t stop her stomach from grumbling its own protest at being up and out and energetic before breakfast. Shivering, she pulled her hat down and lengthened her stride, looking forward to getting her heart rate up and blood pounding at practice. She thought of Alex’s gift, tucked away in the trunk at the end of her bed, between dress robes and last year’s spell books; it would keep her warm, sure, but part of her felt like it would be cheating to wear it under her Quidditch robes, particularly as she didn’t know how else it might help beyond keeping her body temperature comfortable. Another part of her wanted to keep this particular secret close, at least for a little while. It was special. It was brilliant. It was Alex – and it was a piece of her Kara could hold safely until she returned from her Arctic adventure.  
  
“They won’t get away with this,” Trish’s raised voice carried out toward her from the changing rooms, “I’m going to stop it.”  
  
“It’s not a big deal,” came Malcolm’s low reply. “So they claim I can see better in the dark, or I can sniff out the snitch like it’s some sort of animal, nothing about me is anything other than human twenty seven days of the month – it’s bullshit. It won’t affect anything, it’s completely unfounded.”  
  
“It’s cruel, is what it is.” Trish sighed and shot Kara a weak smile as she slipped in through the canvas door to join them.

Malcolm tossed a stack of parchment flyers down onto the bench, “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”  
  
“You shouldn’t have to hear it at all.”  
  
“What is this?” Kara reached out and picked one off the top of the pile, reading aloud, “’WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING – MALCOLM DUCASSE’S UNFAIR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE…’ They’re trying to get you kicked off the team?” She looked back and forth between the two of them, scrunching up the parchment in her fist.  
  
“It’s not going to work, it’s nothing, just fearmongering.” Malcolm rubbed his hand against his collarbone and sparked the pile alight with a cold blue flame, watching the parchment curl into ashes on the bench. “Goodley won’t care – you know how her wife worked with Granger on the Equality for Magical Beasts and Beings Act. None of the teachers will care. I’m not getting kicked off the team.”  
  
Trish shook her head and rested her hand on his shoulder, “Just because it’s not effective doesn’t mean it’s not harassment.”  
  
Kara clenched the balled up flyer harder, “Who would do this?” her hands shook, and she fiddled with her glasses, taking steadying breaths to dispel the static creeping in at the corners of her eyes. “The Ravenclaws? It’s so mean, and unnecessary. Why would they…?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Malcolm sighed and pried the parchment gently from her hand, tossing it into the air and blasting it casually into a fluttering blizzard of tiny paper cranes, “It’s probably personal, some jerk who has it in for me.” He smiled and pulled on his gloves as Jamie, Luke and the Johnsons stumbled into the changing room together, laughing and tossing a Fanged Frisbee between them. “We don’t need to worry about it guys.”  
  
They trained hard that morning. Trish was relentless with drills and skill practice in her typical style – low on rest and high on feedback. She was always asking them to adjust, make the small shifts that would raise their game. They did the same manoeuvres over and over, but she made sure that every time was different, and that every time was more effective than the last. Kara thrived on Trish’s detailed analysis of her individual style and she injected her advice into her game, channelling it alongside her fury over the flyers, and she finished the session freezing and pink in the face, but also exhilarated, sore, and proud of her progress.  
  
They packed up quickly after practice, all looking forward to the warmth and hot breakfast the castle promised. It was a Saturday, so there were no classes to hurry to, and Kara and Jamie made a pretty snappy non-verbal agreement that food was more important than changing, and they’d forgo showers in favour of Weekend Waffles. They were a little way up the snowy hill back to the main doors then when Trish called them from behind.  
  
“Hey, you two, wait up!” She ran surprisingly gracefully through the thick powder up towards them, “It’s Jess’s birthday on the 14th, so we’re throwing a kind of Christmas party thing in the Shack – you should come.”  
  
Kara beamed at their Captain. “Sounds amazing Trish, of course we’ll be there,”

“Brilliant,” Trish returned Kara’s grin, “do you know how to get there?” She narrowed her eyes at Kara with a smile, like she expected what was coming.  
  
“Yeah-“  
  
“You mean like, from inside the castle?” Jamie cut in, eyebrows raised in Kara’s direction.  
  
“Yes,” Kara finished, “Alex gave me a map.”  
  
“Fantastic,” Trish nodded sagely and turned to head back to hurry Malcolm along, “Oh, and great practice today, I know the Ravenclaws are the defending cup champions, but seriously, they’re not going to know what hit them.”  
  
Jamie grabbed Kara’s arm as they resumed their trek up to breakfast, “You’re telling me Alex gave a you a map of the castle with secret passageways on it and I’m just finding out about this now?” They were doing their best to sound offended, but the ear-to-ear grin was a big giveaway that they were more excited than anything else.  
  
“We’ve never needed it before.” Kara laughed, cheeks burning slightly against the frosty air.  
  
Jamie rolled their eyes, “Really? I think you just like having secrets.”  
  
“Well I think you’re just mad I didn’t tell you so you’d have even more places to go make out with Lucy.”  
  
“Touché,” Jamie held open the great oak door into the entrance hall with a little bow, “but can you blame me?”  
  
“Not really,” Kara kicked the snow off her boots clumsily, mouth already watering at the smells wafting out of the Great Hall, “If I had a cute girlfriend to explore secret passageways with, you can guarantee I’d have used it before now.”  
  
Jamie squinted into a playful smile. “So you don’t then?” they probed, as they entered the hall, “Have a cute girlfriend, I mean.”  
  
Their teasing fell on dead ears as Kara scanned the room; her face breaking into a ridiculous grin at the sight of the familiar blonde curls in front of an open Prophet at the end of the Hufflepuff table. “What? No, of course not.” She shoved Jamie gently with her hip, “If I did you’d be the first to know about it.”  
  
“Oh, _I know_ ,” Jamie chuckled, shaking their head and moving toward the table, grinning as Lucy came over to greet them. “Enjoy your waffles,” they added with a pointed wink and a nod to where Cat sat, smiling ever wider at Kara’s deepening blush as she hurried away along the table.

“Uhm,” Kara hovered at the head of the table and gestured to the bench opposite Cat, wiping the fog off her glasses onto her robes, “Is anyone, uh, sitting here?”  
  
Cat didn’t look up from her paper, but Kara swore she saw a hint of a smirk twitch at the corner of her mouth, “Clearly not.” She turned the page and shook the Prophet, picking blueberries absent-mindedly out of a bowl in front of her. Kara was trapped for a moment in the rhythm of the picking, strangely hypnotised by the reach and flex of her forearm, the simple grace of her fingers in the dish. “Well, sit then.” She looked up suddenly, and Kara was unprepared for the very genuine smile sparking in the older girl’s eyes.  
  
Kara rushed to sit, sleeves trailing across plates of scrambled eggs as she piled her dish high with waffles, a fork in one hand already shovelling chunks into her mouth before her other had even finished pouring out syrup.  
  
Cat watched this display with amusement, taking in the mustard robes and the efficiency with which Kara demolished a stack of four waffles. “You’ve come straight from practice?”  
  
“Yes,” Kara buzzed excitedly between mouthfuls, “it was great this morning. We were really in the zone.” She gulped down pumpkin juice and waved her fork in tiny circles in the air, “It just works so well when we settle into that place you know, I wish I knew how to get there every time. On a good day, we are _seriously_ good – but like, how do you make sure every game day is a good day?”  
  
Cat hummed lightly but said nothing. She folded up the Prophet and set it down on the table beside her while she buttered a piece of toast.  
  
“Anything interesting in there?” Kara nodded towards the paper, noticing a glistening, caramel donut on Cat’s plate in the process.  
  
“Yes, there’s something a little strange,” Cat mused. “A couple in Siberia claim their son was abducted by the Russian Ministry of Magic.”  
  
“Abducted by the government?”  
  
Cat nodded, her brow furrowed, “They deny it of course, but they haven’t just brushed off the allegations, they’ve launched a major search for the missing boy, they’re not skimping on any resources. If they did take the boy that’s a dangerous game.” She chewed thoughtfully on her toast, “Why not just silence the parents – keep it _hush hush_ …?”  
  
“Well maybe they didn’t take the kid.” Kara pointed out, “It makes sense for them to look for the boy if he’s genuinely missing, or he ran away. Maybe the parents are confused.”  
  
“Or lying, yes,” Cat conceded, “I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something fishy about this. They didn’t have to make such a big deal out of it; they’re hiding something. Hiding in plain sight – making a big show of caring. I don’t know, I’m not sure what it is but something doesn’t add up here.” She toyed with one of her curls and sipped her tea.  
  
“A boy was abducted, Cat, that kind of is a big deal.”  
  
“For you, yes, but _you_ are not the Russian government.” Cat pulled her bag up onto her lap and slotted the Prophet neatly into the back pocket. She reached a little way down the table to pluck a pear out of a fruit bowl and began to stand. “I have to dash, we have an excursion in the Forest this weekend for Care of Magical Creatures.”  
  
“I didn’t know you took Care of Magical Creatures.”  
  
“Yes-“ Cat stopped at the new smile on the younger girl’s face, “What?”  
  
“Nothing. I just didn’t expect it.” Kara mopped up the last dregs of syrup on her plate with a piece of toast. “You’re literally always reading; I figured you’d have gone for the more theoretical subjects is all.”

Cat tensed, tilting her head slightly and searching for something in the other girl’s words, or in her tone. She was cool and impassive and Kara thought for a moment she was going to be on the end of another defensive tirade but instead, she softened, slipped the pear into her pocket and leaned in to fix Kara squarely in her gaze. “You make a lot of assumptions, Danvers.”

Kara shrunk awkwardly into herself, blushing. She looked down, away from the tiny quirk of Cat’s mouth, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose as the Slytherin extricated herself from the bench. Kara grappled for something to say in response, but nothing coherent and relevant allowed itself to form in her mind. She settled for simply coherent. “Uhm, are you going to eat that?” She gestured to the donut on Cat’s otherwise empty plate. It had remained untouched, calling to her throughout their entire conversation.  
  
Cat smirked, pulling on a pair of thick mittens and slinging her satchel over her shoulder. “Clearly not.”

 

* * *

Kara began to notice things over the next few days, little things that Cat would never admit to. These additions at breakfast were the major giveaway: Every morning she would come down to the Great Hall to find Cat sitting at the same spot at the end of the Hufflepuff table, her Prophet in her hands and some new delicious heart attack on her plate. Donuts, tiffin, pain au chocolat – always something full of sugary goodness and definitely not a part of the standard breakfast spread – and every morning it would remain untouched until Kara asked and took it.  
  
“So you have access to an endless stream of incredible baked goods, but you never even have a nibble?”  
  
“I prefer to take my sugar in a purer form, less of all this starch and oil.”  
  
“Riiight.” Kara smiled, and decided to keep her questions about why she even had all these treats in the first place then to herself.

She would take this small kindness for what it was, even if Cat wasn’t prepared to talk openly about the fact that she was going out of her way to do something tender and purposeful, and specifically for her.  
  
It wasn’t just the pastries; there were other things too. Trish had them out on the Quidditch pitch in a blizzard on Thursday morning and Kara had been surprised to find that her visibility was barely impaired at all, her glasses having been charmed to repel the snow. She couldn’t know for sure that Cat was responsible of course, but Alex was away and she couldn’t really think of anyone else who would do that for her but not tell her about it.  
  
Then there was _Bounce,_ the Muggle sports psychology book that Jamie had found by the fireplace in the Hufflepuff common room, and the new leather flying gloves that had come without a note the following Sunday after Kara had spent a solid ten minutes after practice the day before cradling a steaming cup of tea and trying to regain the feeling in her fingers.  
  
So many little things: Always indirect, always personal, and always as subtle as a kelpie with a kill quota.

On the morning of the 14th the two girls sat across from one another as had become their habit; Kara, tucking into her sweet treat – today a particularly sticky Danish cinnamon bun – and Cat, with her Prophet in one hand and tea in the other. They had found that they were comfortable in one another’s silence, and when words did fall between them they came naturally. Cat would comment on the news of the day, Kara would chatter about Quidditch and Jamie, and together they would speculate about what Alex could be up to at any given moment.

It was the last day of classes before the winter holidays began, and the whole hall was abuzz with festive spirit and excited chatter. Jessica Jones had set up some sort of coconut shy with enchanted Christmas puddings over at the Gryffindor table, and they turned to watch as Lucy stepped up to take a shot.  
  
“So it’s Jess’s party tonight,” Cat raised her voice over the cheers as Lucy took out all six puddings, “Will you be going?”  
  
Kara beamed at Cat’s poor attempt at nonchalance, “Of course.”

“Great,” Cat smiled over the top of her cup, “Maybe I’ll see you there.” She turned towards the ruckus at the other side of the hall but was drawn back around by Kara’s gentle laughter.

“Don’t be silly,” she brushed the sugar off her fingers and reached down into her bag, pulling out a carefully wrapped bar of Honeydukes chocolate and pushing it over the table to Cat, “We’ll go together.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I want to hear your headcanons for these two because I can't get enough. Come flail with me on tumblr too: uncorrectedsleuth


End file.
